blunderbuss

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈblʌndəˌbʌs/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈblʌndərˌbʌs/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(blun′dər bus′)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
blun•der•buss /ˈblʌndərˌbʌs/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. Militarya short gun having a wide mouth so as to scatter shot.
  2. an insensitive, blundering person.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
blun•der•buss  (blun′dər bus′),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. Militarya short musket of wide bore with expanded muzzle to scatter shot, bullets, or slugs at close range.
  2. an insensitive, blundering person.
  • Dutch donderbus (equivalent. to donder thunder + bus gun, box1) with donder replaced by blunder. See harquebus
  • 1645–55

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
blunderbuss / ˈblʌndəˌbʌs/
  1. an obsolete short musket with large bore and flared muzzle, used to scatter shot at short range
Etymology: 17th Century: changed (through the influence of blunder) from Dutch donderbus; from donder thunder + obsolete bus gun

Forum discussions with the word(s) "blunderbuss" in the title:


Look up "blunderbuss" at Merriam-Webster
Look up "blunderbuss" at dictionary.com
  • Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.

In other languages: Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | German | Dutch | Swedish | Russian | Polish | Czech | Greek | Turkish | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Arabic

Advertisements
Advertisements
Report an inappropriate ad.
WordReference.com
WORD OF THE DAY
GET THE DAILY EMAIL!

Become a WordReference Supporter to view the site ad-free.